BILL ANALYSIS                                                                                                                                                                                                    Ó



                                                                    AB 1145


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          Date of Hearing:   April 29, 2015


                           ASSEMBLY COMMITTEE ON EDUCATION


                              Patrick O'Donnell, Chair


          AB 1145  
          (Medina) - As Introduced February 27, 2015


          SUBJECT:  Students:  Early Commitment to College program


          SUMMARY:  Requires the Superintendent of Public Instruction  
          (SPI), by November 1, 2016, to submit specified data on the  
          Early Commitment to College Program (ECCP) to the Legislative  
          Analyst's Office (LAO), and requires the LAO to submit a report  
          on this data to the Legislature, by November 1, 2017.   
          Specifically, this bill:  


          1)Requires the SPI, by November 1, 2016, to submit to the LAO  
            and CDE data relating to ECCP.



          2)Requires the LAO, on or before November 1, 2017, to submit to  
            the Legislature a report relating to the ECCP that includes:
             a)   the number of school districts and students  
               participating in ECCP
             b)   the number of participating students who fulfilled the  
               requirements of the ECCP


             c)   any relevant outcome data reported by school districts  
               to the SPI








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             d)   the level of technical expertise and guidance provided  
               by the SPI to school districts participating in the ECCP


             e)   a recommendation on whether the ECCP should be  
               continued.





          EXISTING LAW:  


          1)Establishes the ECCP, with voluntary participation by students  
            and school districts, for the purposes of increasing  
            college-going rates, motivating students to prepare for  
            college, helping students understand that college is  
            attainable and affordable, providing a clear path to college,  
            and preparing a highly skilled workforce.  Sunsets the ECCP on  
            January 1, 2019.



          2)Requires school districts which choose to participate in the  
            ECCP to provide school-wide college information and college  
            preparation event, and establishes a "Save me a Spot in  
            College" pledge.



          3)Defines "College Opportunity Zone" (COZ) to mean the 30  
            percent of public schools that maintain any of grades 6 to 9,  
            inclusive, with the highest proportion of low-income students.











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          4)Requires the SPI to write letters to students in grades 6 to 9  
            and their parents which describe the major steps to prepare  
            for college and the major postsecondary and financial aid  
            opportunities available, and detail the Early Commitment to  
            College program.



          5)Requires the SPI to make these letters and program information  
            available on its website and request all school districts to  
            distribute the letters to students and their parents. 



          6)Specifies that a student scheduled to graduate from high  
            school after 2017 is allowed to enroll in the program.



          7)Requires the SPI to identify schools as COZs, develop the  
            pledge, develop a letter to parents, and by November 1, 2017  
            submit a report to the Legislature on the status of the  
            program.  The report must have the following information:  
             a)   the number of school districts and students  
               participating in the program
             b)   the number of participating students who fulfilled the  
               requirements of the pledge 


             c)   any relevant outcome data reported by school districts  
               to the Superintendent 


             d)   a recommendation on whether the program should be  
               continued.












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          1)Specifies the actions a student who signs the "Save Me a Spot  
            in College" pledge commits to do, including meeting graduation  
            requirements, enrolling in college preparatory coursework,  
            seeking to achieve proficiency in mathematics and reading,  
            complete and file a free application for federal student aid,  
            meet application and other requirements for university  
            admission or enroll directly in community college within 12  
            months after high school graduation.



          2)Specifies the actions that school districts commit to take,  
            including ensuring that each student receives a certificate of  
            participation in the program, receives college information and  
            a transcript review, and goes on a visit to at least one  
            community college.  School districts must also provide  
            information on college admission and community college  
            enrollment and financial aid at various points in high school.



          FISCAL EFFECT:  Unknown


          COMMENTS:  


          Need for the measure.  The author's office states, "The Early  
          Commitment to College program, if implemented correctly,  
          benefits all residents of California.  The goal [of this bill]  
          is to inform the creation of a stronger program that connects  
          low-income students to higher education.

          Due to lack of support and funding, the implementation of this  
          voluntary program has not been successful. The program sunsets  
          in 2019, and a report on participation rates is due in 2017 to  
          the Legislature.  Without leadership and support, it does not  
          appear that the CDE report will be useful to the Legislature in  








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          determining the strengths and weaknesses of the existing  
          program."



          What happened to this program?  According to the CDE, under the  
          prior administration of the Department the CDE never received  
          funding to administer this program. That administration also  
          never submitted a budget change proposal (BCP) requesting  
          funding for that purpose.  The CDE did send information to  
          school districts as required, and post program information on  
          its website.  That information has since been removed.  No data  
          was collected about program participation, and CDE has no  
          information on the number of districts that are participating.  

          According to the author's staff, the proponents of the  
          legislation that established the program worked to administer  
          the program, creating, for example, a program toolkit which is  
          still available online.  But faced with other workload demands,  
          that organization eventually ceased their support as well.

          Information available online suggests that thousands of students  
          did take the ECCP pledge, including "thousands at nine middle  
          schools" in the Los Angeles Unified School District and 15,000  
          in the Long Beach Unified School District (LBUSD).  These  
          districts, according to the LBUSD, were two of the first four to  
          implement the program.  The LBUSD program, called the Long Beach  
          College Promise, was implemented in conjunction with a  
          one-semester tuition-free guarantee from California State  
          University, Long Beach, as well as college scholarships. Since  
          this program was built on existing local models, it is likely  
          that there are more participating districts, though the extent  
          to which their activities are a result of the ECCP may be  
          difficult to determine.

          Who should write the report?  In recent years the LAO has  
          increasingly been assigned responsibility for reports in the  
          area of higher education policy.  This is likely due to the  
          elimination of the California Postsecondary Education Commission  








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          (CPEC) in 2011.  The LAO has indicated that this increasing  
          workload has become a problem.  The author's office recognizes  
          this issue, and is seeking alternatives to assigning this  
          responsibility to the LAO, such as the California Research  
          Bureau (California State Library).


          


          What will this report tell the Legislature?  This bill requires  
          that the LAO report to the Legislature in a largely descriptive  
          manner on the program.  It requires that the LAO report on:


                 the number of school districts and students  
               participating in the program
                 the number of participating students who fulfilled the  
               requirements of the pledge 


                 any relevant outcome data reported by school districts  
               to the Superintendent 


                 the level of technical expertise and guidance provided  
               by the SPI to school districts participating in the program


                 a recommendation on whether the program should be  
               continued





          Since the goal of this program was to increase college-going  
          rates, that is the metric by which the program should be  
          evaluated.  By requiring information on the number of students  








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          who fulfilled the pledge, current law requires that the report  
          include information on the number of students who met  
          application and other requirements for university admission or  
          enrolled directly in community college within twelve months  
          after high school graduation, but stops short of requiring  
          information on university or other postsecondary program  
          enrollment rates.  That information would be useful in  
          determining whether the program should continue, and could also  
          inform future program design and implementation.  If that  
          information could be obtained, it would also be useful to  
          identify any factors - local or state supports or barriers, for  
          example - that have contributed to its effect.  Staff recommends  
          that the bill be amended to require that the report contain any  
          available information about participants' university and other  
          postsecondary program enrollment rates, and any state or local  
          factors contributing to the program's success or failure.


          


          REGISTERED SUPPORT / OPPOSITION:




          Support


          None on file




          Opposition


          None on file









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          Analysis Prepared by:Tanya Lieberman / ED. / (916) 319-2087